NewFronts 2019 New York One-Week Schedule Released

UPDATED: YouTube, Hulu and Vice Media are among those returning for the ninth annual Digital Content NewFronts marketing event series in New York City this spring, which keeps the one-week format adopted last year.

Interactive Advertising Bureau, the trade group that runs the NewFronts, announced the NYC lineup, which will run Monday, April 29, to Friday, May 3. The program features 16 presenting companies, that same as last year and less than half of the 35 in 2017.

In 2018, IAB cut the original New York series to one week — from the previous two-week run — and added a two-day L.A. event in October, in part to cater to companies that wanted to reach West Coast marketers. IAB is again planning to hold a NewFronts West event in Los Angeles in the fall of 2019, a rep for the trade group said.

Coming to the NewFronts in New York this year are the event’s co-founders — Digitas, YouTube, Hulu and Verizon Media (formerly AOL and Yahoo) — as well as BBC News, Condé Nast, Ellen Digital Network, MediaLink, Meredith, the New York Times, Studio71, Target Media Network, Twitter, Viacom, Vice Media, and Walmart’s Vudu. In addition, IAB will host a new three-part NewFronts Insights Symposium at the end of the week.

After the initial schedule was released in February, Disney (originally slated for April 30 from 9-11 a.m.) dropped out of the NewFronts lineup. In addition, MediaLink was added on April 29 (with a 7:30-8:30 a.m. session) and Target’s digital ad group came in for the lunchtime slot on May 2.

The IAB said it’s hoping to add more companies to fill out the schedule (although as it’s set, only slot open is May 2 at noon). On Wednesday, Group Nine Media, which includes Thrillist, NowThis, the Dodo and Seeker brands, said it would not return to the NewFronts this year after presenting in 2018 and 2017, opting for a multi-city marketing tour instead.

IAB oversees the NewFronts, in charge of event logistics and marketing. Each presenting company produces and manages its own independent, invitation-only production.

Unlike the TV industry’s upfronts — which are lavish presentations aimed at booking ad inventory ahead of the fall television season — digital-media players don’t have a finite bucket of advertising avails or a specific time of year when they launch new content.

Here’s the updated 2019 Digital Content NewFronts schedule: